This was meant to be a quick day walk up on the exposed Kaimanawa Tops overlooking the majestic snow capped Mt. Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro. The winter weather was absolutely perfect, clear skies, the views gorgeous, but cold above the bush line. 

After following the Umukarikari Track to its peak I stayed for a while capturing some great photos. As soon as I left the top, I felt something was not quite right. Real shortness of breath, strange tingling and numb lower arms to fingers, mild tightness across the chest, racing heart, and dizziness. After a little more extreme slow walking/shuffling, and not sure whether to try to return to the start of the track over exposed terrain or carry on to a hut with possibly worse cell reception, it worried me there was no one around and I was really alone.

 Through poor cell reception, Healthline and Ambulance services tried to help me identify the exact location, but a confused brain didn’t help. Putting on all of my gear preparing to wait for help but getting cold quickly, it was then my savior arrived – a mountain runner carrying a ACR PLB and an emergency blanket!

Although I really didn’t want to put others out, the PLB was activated and from that point on, the whole rescue process swung into action. And the stress of wondering how I was going to get back down safely should things get worse, gratefully dropped away. It was a relief.

While waiting for the helicopter, two experienced trampers waited with me, both also well equipped with PLBs, and I realised my “fast and light” walking style had drawbacks.

The rescue team arrived from Hawkes Bay, luckily the terrain was perfect for helicopter landing, and were amazing. Professional, understanding, helpful – experiences like this make one really appreciate the effort that goes into providing such a service. Destination was Wellington Hospital given the likely cardiac cause & fortunately no cardiac damage was detected.

“Better safe than sorry”, lessons learnt.